The new Berberis cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the inventor, Timothy D. Wood, in Grand Haven, Mich. The objective of the breeding program was to produce new Berberis varieties. The cross resulting in this new variety was made during June of 2003.
The seed parent is an unpatented, commercial variety Berberis thunbergii ‘Golden Pygmy’. The pollen parent is unknown, as it was an open pollination breeding program. The new variety was identified as a potentially interesting selection in June of 2006, at a commercial greenhouse in Grand Haven, Mich.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘SMBTJ’ by softwood to semi-hardwood cuttings was first performed during the June of 2006, at a commercial greenhouse in Grand Haven, Mich. Subsequent propagation has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type in 4 successive generations.